Woman recounts assault by unknown man on walking trail in Courtenay

A frightening altercation on a walking trail in Courtenay has left a Comox Valley woman battered and bruised.

Jen (last name withheld) alleges she was physically assaulted by a male dirt biker while jogging with her teenaged daughter on the Rotary Trail in Courtenay June 3 at around 1:40 p.m.

Her family has since reported the incident to the Comox Valley RCMP, who confirmed the report on June 5.

Jen claims two young dirt bikers came up behind her and her daughter on Sunday while they were jogging on the Rotary Trail — a pedestrian-only gravel path that runs parallel to the E&N Railway in Courtenay.

“When we heard the motors behind us, we turned around and saw two dirt bikes,” said Jen. “I said, ‘get off the trail! Get off the [effing] trail!’”

Jen told Black Press that one of the bikers sped up and struck her with his tire and handlebars. The biker continued riding down the trail but stopped after roughly 40 feet while Jen shouted obscenities at him. He got off his bike and, according to Jen, came stomping back towards her.

“He started just punching me and beating me up and saying he was going to [effing] kill me,” claims Jen. “I told him the police had been called and he was going to get it. He said ‘how do you think this is going to go?’ It was bad.

“He was actively saying, ‘I am gonna kill you’,” recounted Jen. “I don’t think it had anything to do with me, or [my daughter]. It was just – this kid has rage problems that need to be addressed.”

Jen described the assailant as a Caucasian male in his early 20s with a medium build, roughly 5’7 tall with blue eyes and dirty blond eyebrows. She claimed he wore a white helmet with black decals and drove a red and black Honda dirt bike.

Jen said she got her phone out during the attack, but was unable to capture a photo or video of the assailant. She managed to get a brief recording that included his voice, which she provided to police.

She alleges the assailant knocked the phone out of her hand, stomped on it a few times, and then threw it into the bushes. She and her husband later managed to retrieve it.

After the assault, Jen claims the attacker left in the direction of Fifth Street in Courtenay after she warned him the police had been called. She said she was only bluffing when she shouted that, and that she later called the police from a nearby house.

Jen claimed the strikes to her head aggravated a condition she has with her occipital nerve.

“He got me a couple of times in the face. He got my ears, my head. Unfortunately, it did aggravate a neurological condition I have and hopefully it settles,” she said. “It’s excruciatingly painful and causes extreme dizziness, unsteadiness, and extreme pain.”

According to Jen, the assailant’s companion did not stay around for the altercation, which she believes to have lasted between five and 10 minutes.

Comox Valley RCMP media relations officer Cst. Monika Terragni said the detachment hopes to hear from any witnesses, including the man the attacker was with.

Jen said she approached the media about the incident because she wanted the public to know what happened to her. She drew a sketch of the attacker’s face and supplied it to Black Press and the RCMP.

“I want to get the word out. I want to see if this guy can be found,” she said.

“If it was just some stupid kid who roughed me up, that’s fine. But he literally wanted to kill me. And if [my daughter] wasn’t there…he would have tried.”

If you have any information regarding this event, please contact the Comox Valley RCMP at 250-338-1321. If you wish to remain anonymous, contact Comox Valley Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online at comoxvalleycrimestoppers.bc.ca. When reporting through Crime Stoppers, you never have to identify yourself or testify in court, and you could receive a cash reward for your information.